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I am currently exploring the play framework. I'm about to replace the proposed templating system, using the powerful XML processing of the Scala library. Here is what I have come with:

import scala.xml._
import play.templates._
import play.mvc.results.ScalaAction

object Gui {

  def asset (file:String) = "/public/"+ file

  val cssIncludes = "main.css" ::
    "jquery-ui-1.8.16.custom.css" ::
    "dynaTree/skin/ui.dynatree.css" ::
    Nil

  val jsIncludes = "jquery-1.6.2.min.js" :: 
    "jquery.cookie.js" ::
    "jquery-ui-1.8.16.custom.min.js"::
    "jquery.dynatree.min.js" ::
    Nil  

  def pageBase(title: String = "", jsScript: Option[String])(body: => Seq[Node]) = {
    <html>
      <head>{
        val nodes :Seq[Node] = <title>{ title }</title>::
          (for (css <- cssIncludes) yield 
            <link rel="stylesheet" href={ asset("stylesheets/" + css) }></link>
          ):::
          (for (js <- jsIncludes) yield 
            <script src={asset("javascripts/" + js)} type="text/javascript"></script>
          ):::(
        <link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/png" href="public/images/favicon.png"></link> 
        <script type="text/javascript">{jsScript getOrElse ""}</script>).toList
        nodes
      }</head>
      <body>{ body }</body>
    </html>
  }
}

This seems to work well and can be a base for more complex needs.

I would be interested in a way to improve the pageBase method. I did not find a clean way to generate the stylesheet and JavaScript inclusion without the ::: operator. (I managed to get the code to compile, but only the last for expression would yield a result at execution)

Would you share a better way to write it, or show your implementation, if you took a similar path?

I'm still searching a better way to handle path creation (for asset and action) that mimics the routing and reverse routing offered in the templates.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I would like to add "playframework" as a new tag... but don't have the right to do it... Could someone with such power create it for me, or better, give me the right to do it? \$\endgroup\$ – blackbox Oct 17 '11 at 6:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ have you considered anti-XML? anti-xml.org I guess no one answered this question yet because the Scala XML standard package is outdated and beyond fixing. \$\endgroup\$ – Marvin.Hansen Mar 15 '14 at 19:19
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks for pointing antiXML... I'll be glad to test it when I have time. \$\endgroup\$ – blackbox Mar 17 '14 at 10:56
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I'm not that familiar with Play, but overall I can't say that there's anything here I actively dislike. The purpose, layout, variable names and all are quite reasonable and easy to follow. Over all, I would say "Good job".

A couple of comments outside of that:

  1. It seems strange that you would have to write all this boiler-plate HTML stuff in code. My preference would be to keep a template, but Your Mileage May Vary.

  2. I can't say that I'm a huge fan of using concatenation operators to create static lists. I would have, for example, written:

    val cssIncludes = List("main.css",
                       "jquery-ui-1.8.16.custom.css",
                       "dynaTree/skin/ui.dynatree.css")

    It isn't that the way you wrote it is wrong, but this form is exactly equivalent and more obvious (and thus more readable).

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